A moment of joy for a boy who lost both arms in an Israeli airstrike

In a video, Mahmoud Ajjour is beaming as he skips into the breeze.

In a video, Mahmoud Ajjour is beaming as he skips into the breeze. He breaks into laughter as he watches his kite flutter in the sky, pulling it along with a string tied around his waist, in a moment that captured the irrepressible joy of childhood.

At 9 years old, Mahmoud has known more trauma than most will see in a lifetime. On Dec. 6, 2023, the fourth grader was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, a blast that severed one of his arms and left the other so badly damaged it had to be amputated. On Thursday, an image of Mahmoud, taken by Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, was named World Press Photo of the Year, a haunting portrait of the impact of the war on children.

Mahmoud now lives in Doha, Qatar, with his family, after becoming one of a very small number of Palestinians to be evacuated from Gaza for urgent medical treatment.

Mahmoud Ajjour.Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times via World Press PhotoWhen Mahmoud smiles, his happiness seems infectious, but some days are harder than others. “There are bad moments for him,” his mother, Nour Ajjour, 36, told NBC News by phone from Doha, Qatar’s capital. “He doesn’t want to play or go outside.”

“We keep him busy and have fun with him,” Ajjour said. She sent videos of him gleefully speeding down a hallway on an electric bike, steering with his feet on the handlebars, and using his feet to play with a lump of bright-green clay.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/mahmoud-ajjour-boy-lost-both-arms-israeli-airstrike-rcna201963

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